by Mellice Cem and Paxton Briggs
91206.2100
Just before Ask Questions First, Shoot Later
-=The Forest on Sibalt=-
91206.2100
Just before Ask Questions First, Shoot Later
-=The Forest on Sibalt=-
*One down, plenty to go.* He kept the count in his head and silently to himself as Crewman Halliday was the first to wear his blue splatter.
The barrel of his weapon moved swiftly and silently as he acquired new targets. His finger found the trigger of his weapon as he unleashed a barrage of paintballs towards both Lair Kellyn and Rada Dengar, who was, based on the files Mellice had, the Sera’s Chief Engineer.
He had no idea why Lair had frozen or why the two were speaking, but he kept his assault up while sweeping his barrel in a left to right motion to confuse the pair into thinking he'd moved on to another, more easily accessible target. That was when he heard another splatter and someone complaining rather loudly at that. Opening the hopper of his weapon, Mellice very silently took another tube of paint pellets, opened it up and reloaded while Ashton Ledbetter wandered into view.
He took a few shots at the… observer? Whatever that was. Ledbetter took off running for cover and Mellice simply let him go. He had bigger fish to fry.
At the very least, he knew of two more individuals that definitely posed a challenge to him, but one of them would have to get past his very trained mental blocks. Mellice’s ex-fiancée was a full Betazoid and had shown him how to block his mind from other telepathic species, including Vulcans. Yes, Counselor Tryst was going to challenge his mental barriers while Zanh Liis was going to be a very interesting challenge to his marksmanship.
*Hold up. who do we have here?* He thought as he noticed someone else familiar to him coming into view and keeping himself for the most part hidden by the over grown vegetation and downed trees. *What in the name of the Prophets are you doing here, Paxton Briggs? Aren't you suppose to be onboard Indigo?*
Now the game was afoot, as there was a new challenge he'd have to confront.
Paxton crept along the treeline doing his best to keep his tall frame hidden from view. He could hear Ledbetter screeching like a girl as he ran away into the woods, but was far more concerned with who had spooked the man.
His eye scanned the woods as he did his best to remember his training from the Academy. Being a bridge officer for so many years this type of stealthy down in the mud combat had not been in his daily schedule since then.
The Sera crew was out there somewhere just waiting to remodel his uniform with a new color. Salvek and himself had devised a combat plan before this even began. Find and eliminate the opposing leadership. They had determined that the Command staff is where the Sera team strength was.
The Captain was a savvy combat commander. Years of experience jumping through time periods gave her insight and instincts that worked as a sixth sense. Her second in command, Commander Blane, was even better. This type of event was his bread-n-butter. His combat experience and training while assigned to Special Ops was pages long, and that was only what was unclassified. The rest was hidden behind security clearance that Paxton did not have.
Just then Pax caught movement out of the corner of his eye and slowly turned his head to see what it was. Doctor Hartcort was crouched under the low hanging branches of a tree that resembled a pine. He back was against the trunk and the paint ball gun was resting in his lap as the good doctor was preoccupied with cleaning his nails. The man did not seem to be in the least bit interested in the scenario unfolding around him.
"Psstt!" Pax tried to get the good doctors attention. Lance stopped cleaning his nails and looked around. "Pssstt!" Pax tried again and after a moment of squinting Lance finally located Pax and smiled, his perfect white teeth gleaming the shade of the branches.
*He is going to get himself shot if he stays in one place like that.* He frowned as he looked at the doctor. *Damn, how does he get his hair to look that good even in these conditions?*
Following Pax's line of sight while he holstered the now empty tube and closed his hoppers lid. Mellice then grinned as he then noticed the good doctor, another familiar face to him, Lance Hartcort.
*Another old crewmate here? I'm going to give them all hell for this.* His mind raced as his barrel then trained on the partially protected, yet still out in the open Doctor. *Hey doc, I got a present for you.* He thought as his finger slowly pulled the trigger while he sighted down his barrel.
The puff of escaping air was the only thing that gave his weapons discharge off as his smile grew more. He knew Pax had combat experience so he'd have to work fast in order to start on the commander. Like himself, Pax started out in security and worked his way up into the chain of command, but that is where the similarities ended. While Briggs was a highly decorated officer, he himself has a couple bumps in the road. First and foremost being his psychological well being.
His split personality, coupled with what he had witnessed on Bajor during the Occupation, had made him a troubled man. While he'd served in Starfleet with distinction, his career has suffered a few minor set backs. The first being his near court-martial out of the fleet for disobeying a direct order, even when he knew the order wasn't the right one to begin with. That, coupled with the fact that his former commander during that incident, Angela Delgato, had falsified her report to state that Mellice gave the order to fire prematurely, when in fact it was her that gave the order, nearly ended his Starfleet career.
The second wrinkle was currently being taken care of by Admiral Harris himself.
He moved his barrel from Lance to Pax, as the good doctor shouted his surprise to the blue stain now on his shoulder. The very well trained sniper in him kept up the count of how many kills he'd gained in the field of combat, the quickly dismissed the thoughts while taking very careful aim at the commander. Just this once, he let his position go as he whistled loudly to get Paxton's attention on his location. A location which he'd abandon before the commander could train his weapon and return fire on him.
Paxton blinked as the sniper disappeared from view. Paxton slid behind a trunk to get out of the direct line of fire. He was not sure but he could have swore that the sniper looked like Mellice Cem.
He slid down low and rolled behind another tree. *If it is Mellice, then this exercise has taken on a new level.* He thought.
Hartcort had by now made his way out from under the tree and was wiping the blue marker from his shirt with a medical wipe. "Hey, who is using blue paint?" He yelled. "Yellow and purple were the colors I thought?"
Paxton stayed hidden behind the tree and peered into the woods on the far side. He could feel the third party snipers eyes boring down on him, but despite his best efforts, he could not see him hidden somewhere in the foliage.
Gathering his feet under himself he bolted behind the large trunked tree, diving for cover. He held his breath as he waited for a blue blotch of paint to appear on his shirt. When none did he slowly peered around the trunk to see if he could spot the sniper.
This is what made Mellice’s job as the unknown rival even more fun in his mind. The surprise when things either did or did not happen. In this case, it was the fact he hadn't fired on Paxton, which put his prey was on guard as Paxton waited for him to make the first move. To Pax's surprise and dismay, he did not make the first move, instead he'd allow the commander to slightly lower his guard, as he had just now when he peered around his new cover. *Won't do you any good Briggs, I'm right behind you.* He smirked a bit as he took aim. Poor Pax had no idea where he was hiding at, for all he knew he could have been anywhere in this thick wooded area.
From his hidden spot up in what appeared to be Sibalt's version of a rather tall maple tree, he laid across the small plank nest he'd constructed the day before and grinned. *Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Paxton, TAG! Your it!* The thought raced through his mind, and his trigger finger was on the same wavelength. As he fired, the slight puff of compressed CO2 escaped the end of his barrel while the blue packed projectile shot towards the very center of Commander Brigg's back.
The resounding splat echoed in the area as the blue stain appeared. Without a word spoken, he slapped the armband controls of his transporter and made a quick and quiet exit, stage left. Clearly, once both teams analyzed these events and realized that they weren't alone out here, they'd surly try for some payback. For now, they were unaware they were being played with during these games and that suited Mellice just fine. Soon, he would appear in another area of the woods and find some new targets to toy with and confuse.
**********
Lieutenant (jg) Mellice Cem
Assistant Security/Tactical Chief
USS Revolution NCC-71605-A
&
Lt. Commander Paxton Briggs
Executive Officer
USS Alchemy NX-53099
Lieutenant (jg) Mellice Cem
Assistant Security/Tactical Chief
USS Revolution NCC-71605-A
&
Lt. Commander Paxton Briggs
Executive Officer
USS Alchemy NX-53099